Chapter 6: The Hunt

Looking down at the screen below him, Trunks furrowed his brows while he clutched the ends of the Scroll. The battle between Vegetto and Frieza showcased their arms and legs colliding with each other, each one close to breaking through the other's defenses in an even stand off. Kassava crossed her arms, lifting her chin slightly to peer onto the Scroll.

"Now what?"

Trunks kept his eyes trained on the screen.

"We wait."

Kassava frowned in response, glancing around.

"Seems like a waste. We should be there, helping him."

Trunks muffled his chuckle.

"Trust me, he doesn't need any help."

Kassava raised her right eyebrow.

"Oh?"

The other Saiyan shook his head once.

"Frieza isn't strong enough to kill him. I can already see it in their fighting techniques; Vegetto has the upper hand. He's still holding back, while Frieza is already close to using his full power."

Kassava lowered her questioning brow.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's not like I expected anything like him to even exist."

Trunks nodded once in response.

"He's impressive, that's for sure. But it's his demeanor that's really amazing; last time these two fought, he nearly wrecked the entire timeline in his rage. Here, he's completely calm. In control, parrying everything Frieza's throwing at him and redirecting it back."

Kassava uncrossed her arms.

"They've fought before?"

Trunks glanced up from the scroll, turning slightly towards Kassava.

"Yes, but Frieza wasn't nearly as powerful and Vegetto was having a bit of a...meltdown. You see, Vegetto wasn't born the way you and I were: he's a fusion."

Kassava blinked.

"A what?"

Trunks broke out into a small smile.

"A fusion. It's complicated, but he was created by the magical Potara earrings between the Saiyan warriors Goku and my father, Vegeta."

Kassava grunted.

"Explains the two voices. So he's your father fused with another man?"

Trunks nodded once.

"Yes...and no. They fused together in order to defeat a villain named Majin Buu, but instead of outright killing him, he had a different plan and tricked Buu into absorbing him. The magical properties within Buu's body distorted the fusion, causing my father and Goku to split back into their respective selves."

He diverted his attention, the explosion of energy between both warriors' fists clashing on the screen catching his eye.

"But we discovered from Shenron that Vegetto was his own being because of the fusion, meaning he technically died when the two split inside of Buu. He was sent to the Otherworld following that mishap, and was resurrected by Shenron by the Supreme Kai of Time in hopes of finding a warrior capable of dealing with another problem we had with the timeline."

Kassava turned her attention back to the scroll, staring at the screen intently.

"And who is he fighting?"

Trunks narrowed his eyes immediately, watching on as Frieza blasted upwards from the force of Vegetto's left fist striking his chin head on.

"That's Frieza, the evil tyrant that nearly claimed the entire universe for himself. He was originally beaten by Goku on Namek about fourteen years ago, who was using that form you first discovered. He's come back somehow, and he's stronger than ever."

Kassava kept her eyes on the screen.

"I'm guessing he has a history with both of those Saiyans then, right?"

Trunks nodded.

"Yeah, and they don't have happy ones with him either. My father was enslaved under his rule since his childhood while Goku watched Frieza murder his best friend. We didn't realize it at the time when we were investigating Namek's history in search of the other threat, but that meant Vegetto had their combined memories towards Frieza. And he...well..."

He swallowed hard.

"Let's just say Vegetto...acted on those painful memories thoroughly."

Kassava stifled her smile slightly, but the amusement was clear in her eyes.

"He beat this Frieza to a pulp then? Why is that so bad?"

Trunks sighed lightly.

"It has to do with who he is. After that 'beating' as you put it, Vegetto broke down. He didn't really respond well to the idea that he was just a conduit of memories, or that he didn't have anything to who he was other than those memories. So we spent a little time helping him realize he's one of us, and he managed to find some peace in his mind through it all."

Kassava lost her smile, staring intently at the screen.

"So that's what this is about? It's not just some mission to save the time stream for him; it's to prove he's not two people sharing a body?"

Trunks smiled in response.

"Exactly. That's what fusion is supposed to be about anyway. It's not just two bodies combining together, it's two beings becoming one. A new person entirely."

He nodded down to the scroll.

"And it looks like he's proving it to himself for the first time since we fought Demigra."

Frieza stumbled backwards, nearly falling flat onto his rear before using all his might to remain standing upright. However, in his haste to keep from falling backward, he let out a stumbling grunt as he dropped forward, landing on his right knee. He kept his head bowed for a moment, panting heavily.

How...

He slowly lifted his head up, staring into the narrowed blue eyes of the warrior only ten meters away. Vegetto's expression remained tense, his arms hanging from the side.

"What's wrong? Had enough?"

Frieza snarled.

"You think you're so clever, don't you? What, with your smug attitude, talking down to me like I'm some slave peasant to you?!"

Vegetto's lips lifted slightly into a smirk.

"That's right."

Frieza's eyes bulged to the brims, the red veins along the edges throbbing while he grinded his teeth together. The tyrant shrieked, quickly launching forward and shooting his right arm forward at the fusion's stomach. The blow only swiped through an afterimage of the fusion, the blue aura dissipating from the figure. Frieza gasped, turning towards his left before letting out a pained breath from the gloved fist buried in his left rib cage. Vegetto's narrowed eyes remained locked on Frieza, his form lax in stance.

Frieza howled once again, spinning from the momentum of the blow to send the left calf of his leg down onto Vegetto's shoulder. However, his eyes widened in shock from stumbling from the force of his leg shooting into the ground instead of the shoulder a few meters above. The image of Vegetto once again remained perfectly still, Frieza soon collapsing onto the ground on all fours from the force upon his back.

Vegetto kept a confident smirk, his boot locking the tyrant to his fours from the pressure while he casually rested both arms on the knee.

"That's a lot of pressure, Frieza. I'd hate for you to try something and have your back crushed into a golden mess."

Frieza snarled once again in response, his arms trembling as Vegetto's smirk morphed into a frown.

"Surely you can see that you're beaten. C'mon Frieza, you're even using your eyes instead of feeling where I am. There's no point in continuing, why don't you just give up?"

Frieza howled, whirling around at blinding speeds underneath Vegetto's boot. The fusion blinked in surprise, still staring down at the golden fighter now face up with both hands clasping onto the fusion's boot to prevent it from coming down. A bright red glow illuminated from Frieza's palms, a massive wave of red energy shooting up into the air milliseconds after Vegetto flipped backwards to avoid the blast. Vegetto kept a stern stare as he landed lightly a few meters away, Frieza slowly pulling himself back up to his feet.

"Never! I'd rather spend all of eternity in Earth's Hell again before I succumb to another monkey!"

Vegetto stood still, watching the deterioration before him as Frieza screamed to the heavens in his frustration. His muscles bulged heavily, blood beginning to slowly trickle down his palms.

"Why?! Why must this universe be filled with Saiyan garbage constantly interfering with my plans?! This is my universe, my existence! Goku died years ago and yet he still haunts me with you! Why won't you just die and leave me alone!"

Vegetto remained still.

"It's balance, Frieza. Did you really think you could just get away with the crimes you committed, with the destruction you caused without any repercussions?

Frieza snarled once again, grinding his teeth together in his venomous tone.

"Don't you talk to me with your self righteous dribble. I've heard enough hero talk for one lifetime!"

Vegetto broke out into a smirk.

"It's not hero talk. I wasn't talking about the moral nonsense about avenging the lives you've taken, or the pain you've caused. You've just spent your entire life dominating everything you've come into contact with, so I ask: do you really think you could just get away with it? That you could keep getting away with the crime of imbalance?"

He chuckled once again.

"It's the way this universe works Frieza. With every force you create, you give way to an even bigger reaction. A bigger force."

He gestured to himself.

"You created us, Frieza. You're the one who started this game, by blowing up Planet Vegeta decades ago. And now, here we are."

Frieza continued to grunt and writhe in frustration, watching the blue haired Saiyan gesture to the sky.

"On the new homeworld of the Namekians, fighting as gods and rulers of the universe! Think about it: what better way is there to live?!"

The tyrant roared once more, blasting forward. Vegetto's eyes widened slightly in amusement, bolting backwards into a dash as Frieza's furious fists launched one after another, blasting off to his sides with each deflecting block of the fusion's forearms. Frieza's agitated grunts rose in pitch, his speed increasing slightly with each failed attempt along with Vegetto's exhilarated laughter.

"Don't you see?! This is our fate; our battle! Decades of hatred culminating together, lashing out in a rising escalation in desperate hopes to conquer the other! All the pain you've suffered, all the strife you've endured, coming together in an epic battle to win out over your most hated foe!"

Frieza halted suddenly, his twisted expression contorting even more.

"Shut up!"

He suddenly threw his right arm out, pointer finger extended. With each shriek, the tyrant unloaded red beam after red beam at the fusion from point blank range. Vegetto's smirk only widened into a crazed grin, slapping at blinding speeds to sending each concentrated beam skyward.

"Yes, that's it! Dig deeper Frieza, find that inner power buried for so long! Use that hatred to find some hope and method to overcome me!"

Frieza huffed for a moment, stopping in place. With his feet firmly gripping the dirt below, the tyrant lifted his head into the sky once again.

"Why...won't...you...die?!"

Vegetto's eyes widened for a moment, looking on as a dark and menacing purple glow suddenly erupted forward from the golden Frieza. The brilliant shine dimmed under the purple energy radiating over his body, black lightning coursing around his form. His eyes illuminated brightly in a blood red, his teeth barred in a sudden bolt forward.

The fusion's eyes were the only thing that could keep up, the fusion doubling over a bit from the fist now buried in his stomach. Vegetto huffed in pain, the shock clear in his expression before suddenly blasting sideways, his cheek indented from the golden elbow that had struck him moments ago. The blue aura around the fusion disappated as he crashed into a nearby plateau, smoke billowing out in his decent into the dirt.

Vegetto groaned, rising up inside of the new cave he had created, trembling and lifting his right arm up to his ear.

"Trunks...are you seeing this?"

Both Trunks and Kassava blinked hard at the image of the coughing Vegetto buried in the rock.

"Yes! How...what's going on?! How did Frieza get that strong?!"

Kassava kept her attention locked on the trembling Vegetto, watching the fusion rub his stomach with his right hand.

::It's the traveler. Frieza's energy...it was enhanced for a split second there. Whatever it is, that threat is here now. You two need to find it...and fast...::

Trunks nodded, clutching the Scroll tightly.

"Right, we're on it! C'mon Kassava, it's time to jump in!"